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Looking at rental after rental and being turned away by landlords due to the building’s ‘no children’ policy, single mother Jodie McKague just about gave up on moving to Edmonton’s core with her daughter.

“I think a lot of people are shocked when you say it because it’s kind of discriminatory so when you say it, people don’t really believe you. But once you start looking in downtown proper, there’s so many signs that say ‘adult only’,” she said. “It’s a really difficult thing to explain to your child as well. My daughter just doesn’t understand why a building wouldn’t want kids in it.”

Vacancy rates have been consistently low in the city but potential tenants and local officials say that shouldn’t excuse the ‘no children’ policy found at many buildings.

Suzanne MacLean, executive director with the Oliver Centre, says clients have struggled to find a place to live in the core that is still affordable.

“Years ago, there was ton of family condos, family apartments. I’ve noticed the huge trends and all of the low income families got shoved out of downtown. Hopefully that changes,” she said, adding there are limited renting opportunities for families overall. “You can have a pet but you can’t have a child.”

Representatives of the Landlord and Tenant Advisory Board say it isn’t a problem they’ve heard of but say that it is a landlord’s choice if they’re going to have an adult only building or not.

Despite it being at the discretion of the building owner, McKague hopes that landlords consider young families to help bring new residents into downtown Edmonton.

“I think the idea that if you’re a pet owner or if you have children that means you’re irresponsible or disruptive neighbour is really outdated and isn’t really reflective in reality,” said McKague.

“You have to dream big. If we want to be a little city, we dream small. If we want to be a big city, we dream big, and this is a big idea.” - Mayor Stephen Mandel, 02/22/2012

for the record, i am on the board of a building that does allow rentals, that does allow pets and that does allow children (although that may not apply to individual owners renting their own suites who are free to make their own decisions).

and it's not as cut and dried as most people think. because most of them have never been in an apartment where birds have been allowed "free rein" for months and months. or had to clean up after a hoarder with cats. as for consequences, i've never known anyone that needed to attend an emergency department for not being bitten by pets not allowed in a building. and yes, i know that's all a reflection on the owner and not the animals but the apartments aren't being rented to the animals. and it's all of the other tenants who end up paying for the replacement of floors and carpets and doors that have been clawed and gnawed through etc. etc.

as for children, there are many seniors who prefer to live in a building with other seniors because their life styles are the same. their neighbors are home during the day to visit or to look out for each other or to take on community involvement activities. when their neighbors are children at school and their parents are working, this can be a much less attractive and less healthy lifestyle. and yes, i know all of the advantages for both seniors and children to be exposed to each other and to interact with each other. i'm simply pointing out that - like with most things - it's not as cut and dried as when your being interviewed about your ox being gored

in regard to the alberta human rights act, it is interesting in that it does allow for discrimination based on age but does not allow it based on family status. there are additional provisions for number of occupants that would be independent of both age and family status restrictions (i.e. you could probably not refuse to rent a three bedroom unit to a single mother with two children but you could probably refuse to rent a bachelor suite to them). as with many things, even though there is governing legislation, it is not always black and white when applied to all of the permutations of the marketplace.

"Landlords who restrict tenancy to adults only may argue that it is reasonable and justifiable under section 11 of the AHR Act. In addition, if the alleged discrimination is based on age and not family status, it is important to remember age is not covered under the tenancy section. For instance, an individual who is denied accommodation because they fail to meet age criteria will not be covered under the tenancy section of the AHR Act because the alleged discrimination is based on age. Whereas, a tenant who is denied accommodation because she has children, will be covered under the tenancy section because the alleged discrimination is based on family status."

Our building does not allow pets unless granted permission by the board. We have one guy who has reno'd a number of suites, and on the last two he has told the purchaser that they could have a dog, despite it being very clear in the bylaws, and despite the sign at the front door saying no pets.

I got wind of it the first time, and stopped a couple with a big dog from bringing it into the building. I was the bad guy, and they ripped into me good. The person living below them would have freaked out. So the next time, despite being warned, the seller explicitly told the people buying next door to me that they could have a dog. They asked to be sure because they saw the sign at the front door.

Consequently my next door neighbour has a dog, and it's the yappiest kind of dog. It's a wood framed walkup, and the dog is driving a few of my neighbours up the wall. Our new management is dealing with it, and I don't know how it's going to shape up.

I don't blame the couple at all. They asked. The young couple didn't even have a dog, but got one after they moved in when they were told it was ok.

We have a couple owners who are allergic. Others just don't like dogs. They had a reasonable expectation that there would be no dogs. Now we've got neighbours hating each other, and threats of lawsuits.

If you want to have a dog, I don't care. But in this kind of building, if someone has a dog - everybody has a dog.

PS: screaming at your dog to shut up only makes it worse ...

aka Jim Good; "The sooner you fall behind, the more time you have to catch up." - Steven Wright

About that list (see below). It sure would be interesting to see one and it would be a great opportunity for those against "urban sprawl" to prove that downtowns are family friendly.

Condo booms, why not Edmonton yet?

Originally Posted by KC

Originally Posted by 240GLT

^ Correct, most people, especially families don't want to live downtown. So other options need to be open to them

However there are lots of opportunities in mature neighborhoods as well that are likely more appealing. And there are school faciities in places like Capilano and Ritchie that could be re-activated instead of building new.

We can't artificially constrian the city. It will make the situation worse for Edmonton proper, not better. Best thing that can happen si to provide options and incentives for developers to look at existing neighborhoods where land is available to provide housing options

My understanding from past threads, is that downtown condo-life is very anti-family. Families aren't welcome in many or most condo developments.

Can someone post the list of family friendly condos? (Or if that's a misunderstanding of the balance of condos, then just post the list of the few adult-only condos which families could avoid.)

I lived in a condo where kids were allowed. There were a couple families in the building who use to wedge their door open to let the cold air from the hallway in their unit and their 3 - 4 years old kids would run up and down the hallway.

and it overtaxes and overworks what mechanical equipment there is that was only sized for the corridors.

and it screws up the air balancing for the entire building.

on the other hand, it does give everyone a chance to meet their neighbors.

and, not that i would encourage it, while it is a fire code violation, it's not as if the spaces are unattended while this is taking place (hopefully) so it's probably not that dissimilar to having spaces under a "fire watch" while building systems are inoperative or under going servicing.

I lived in a condo where kids were allowed. There were a couple families in the building who use to wedge their door open to let the cold air from the hallway in their unit and their 3 - 4 years old kids would run up and down the hallway.

I enjoy hearing the kids play in the hall. I may be in a minority on that. Some people hate hearing kids.

I enjoy hearing the kids play in the hall. I may be in a minority on that. Some people hate hearing kids.

You're not alone - frankly, I'd rather be hearing kids playing than dogs yapping away. I don't really mind condo owners having dogs, though - as long as their dogs don't go barking their heads off and the owners are responsible enough to clean up after their dogs - and keep their dogs quiet.

Unlike dogs, children don't usually stay noisy well into the night and they don't make messes in public spaces. Dogs can and will bark for hours and hours, often for various reasons. Separation anxiety is probably one of the biggest reasons, if *not* the biggest.

I know a friend who was forced by her condo's board to give up her dog because residents were complaining about his incessant barking whenever she was away. I think the condo board was threatening to have the dog seized. But I do not know if a condo board is legally allowed to do that or not. Even if the dog was vicious and bites (which in this case, it's certainly not).

It starts out as just running up and down the hallway, eventually they'll bring out the toys, maybe a soccer ball. Then one day you'll see broken glasses from the light box and when you go over to their unit to ask them about it, it'll turn into an argument of "My kids didn't do that...". We've all been kids before so we should know that as kids, we like to push our boundaries when given too much freedom. It doesn't annoy you now to have kids in the hallway but eventually it will.